![\"Pat](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2257158738-e1776772639249.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Indiana center Pat Coogan (No. 78). <\/p>\n
The Washington Commanders<\/a> left many fans scratching their heads after they released Pro Bowl center Tyler Biadasz<\/a> to clear a paltry $2.85 million in cap space only to watch him sign a 3-year, $30 million contract with the Los Angeles Chargers<\/a> just days later.<\/p>\n One way they could make up for that move<\/a> could be by taking a center in the 2026 NFL<\/a> draft who could be the long-term solution, which ESPN\u2019s Jordan Reid<\/a> thinks they will do in his latest 7-round mock draft.<\/p>\n Reid predicts the Commanders will take 6-foot-5, 311-pound Indiana center Pat Coogan in the 6th round (No. 187 overall), bringing the CFP national champion and Rose Bowl MVP to replace Biadasz and, hopefully, team with quarterback Jayden Daniels<\/a> for the next decade.<\/p>\n \u201cPat Coogan is a stout, judicious blocker, who wins on angles, sequencing and staying on schedule,\u201d Bleacher Report\u2019s Brandon Thorn wrote<\/a> in his pre-draft evaluation. \u201cWhen reps extend or he\u2019s forced off his track, his sawed off build and marginal athletic ability limit his sustain and finish, pointing to a reliable interior backup who can get a team out of a pinch on the interior.\u201d<\/p>\n Coogan started 14 games for Notre Dame on the way to a national runner-up finish in 2024. He transferred to Indiana for his final season, where he started all 16 games in an undefeated season on the way to winning the first national title in program history, including winning Rose Bowl MVP honors.<\/p>\n Commanders Called Out for Losing Biadasz<\/p>\n Bleacher Report called Biadasz the NFL\u2019s \u201cBiggest Steal\u201d in free agency this offseason.<\/p>\n \u201cThe free agent market at the center position got reset in a seismic way when the\u00a0Las Vegas Raiders<\/a>\u00a0handed\u00a0Tyler Linderbaum<\/a>\u00a0a three-year contract averaging a staggering $27 million a season. Linderbaum is admittedly an excellent offensive lineman,\u201d\u00a0Bleacher Report\u2019s Gary Davenport wrote<\/a>. \u201cBut the Los Angeles Chargers were able to add a Pro Bowl center of their own \u2014 and his entire three-year deal isn\u2019t that much bigger than Linderbaum\u2019s average annual salary.\u201d<\/p>\n Commanders Will Likely Regret Losing Biadasz<\/p>\n Even if Coogan becomes Washington\u2019s full-time starter, it\u2019s going to take time for him to develop \u2014 time they probably don\u2019t have after going 5-12 in 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cBiadasz\u2019s release by the Washington Commanders simply didn\u2019t make sense,\u201d\u00a0Bleacher Report\u2019s Kristopher Knox wrote<\/a>. \u201d \u2026 After seeing quarterback Jayden Daniels suffer multiple injuries in 2025, the Commanders should be more focused on building up their offensive line, not tearing it down. They certainly shouldn\u2019t have released a 28-year-old center who started 16 games last season and played well.\u201d<\/p>\n Biadasz started 31 games the last 2 seasons for the Commanders after signing a 3-year, $29.5 million free agent contract before the 2024 season.<\/p>\n The plan for the Commanders, while not totally clear, could be to simply put\u00a02-time Super Bowl champion Nick Allegretti at center<\/a> \u2014 he\u2019s listed as a guard\/center. More than likely, they\u2019re going to have to use 1 of their 5 draft picks on a center.<\/p>\n \u201cCoogan is a veteran center with good size, intelligence, communication skills and leadership that will appeal to offensive line coaches,\u201d NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s technically sound and is consistent in centering opponents while latching in with grip strength to increase stickiness \u2026 Coogan has the potential to become a starter, but there are limitations in his game that make scheme fit and protection help important.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTony Adame<\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Commanders\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Indiana center Pat Coogan (No. 78). The Washington Commanders left many fans scratching their heads after they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2069],"tags":[427,7,6,855,111,2480],"class_list":{"0":"post-871178","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-commanders","8":"tag-commanders","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-washington","12":"tag-washington-commanders","13":"tag-washingtoncommanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116442792496512938","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}